A friend in need...

See this girl?

I heart her.

Her name is Jenny.

She's one of my best friends. Has been for almost 25 years or so. She was the Matron of Honor at my wedding.

She's the strongest girl I know.

You see, Jenny's sweet baby boy Kanon was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 when she was newly pregnant and we knew he probably wouldn't live very long. She made it to 31 weeks and her doctor told her last Thursday it was time to deliver him.

So, on Saturday, March 26th at 8:19 a.m. Kanon William Laisle entered this world. He was perfect. Jenny had wanted all of us to meet him, so we were there...in the waiting room....ready.....there.....just like our friends do. We always show up and we are there for each other. We got a chance to meet this precious boy, kiss his forehead, and his mommy and daddy and family members got to love on him for almost an hour and a half. Which is quite a miracle.

Jenny and Rory handled everything with such strength and grace. I am in awe of their bravery. They are such amazing parents to Kaden (their four year old) and to Kanon. I am honored to be their friend. I am blessed just to know them. My life is better because of them.

There were so many many things that happened that reminded me that our God is a sovereign God. I know I talk about sovereignty a lot, but I truly believe that our days are numbered and known before we were even born. And like I have said so many times before as well. God is good ALL the time.

Jenny and I have talked in length about Heaven, God, our faith...and we are certain that our babies are now together in Heaven.

There were a couple of things that happened this week that reminded us of just that.

Like for example....Jenny has an app on her I-Phone called "Jesus Calling." It's a 5 minute Daily Devotional. You can go back to a certain day or skip forward to a day. When Jenny found out that Saturday, March 26th would be Kanon's birthday she skipped forward to read that day. And guess what the Bible Verse was for Saturday? Isaiah 40:31.

Wednesday morning while Renzi was taking Jackson to school he noticed that Jackson was talking to himself in the back seat.

"Whatcha talking about buddy?" Renzi asked.

"Just talking about the dream I had last night," Jackson said.

"What did you dream about?" Renzi asked.

"Oh! It was so great. I dreamed that Isaiah and Kaden's little brother were in Heaven! They couldn't see me, but I could see them! They were laughing so much and they were wrestling with each other!" Jackson replied.

Jackson saw me crying the other day and asked me about why I was upset. My parenting belief is that I should be upfront and honest with my kids as much as possible. So I told him that I was sad for my friend Jenny because her baby had passed away. I also told him that it was happy tears because Kanon was now in Heaven with Isaiah and that's a good thing. That was Saturday. And he had this dream Tuesday night. Oh the innocence and honesty of a 3 year old.

So this week we have all been helping Jenny and Rory prepare for the Memorial Service for Kanon. I have pushed myself to really try to step up and help take the load off of their shoulders. Cause she did the same for me almost a year ago. She did so much for us during the time we lost Isaiah to help make our lives easier. And that is just what we have all been doing this week. Stepping up to help out our friend in need. It's what we do.

I have such an amazingly unique group of girlfriends from high school. Some of us have been friends since kindergarten and some we have met along the way. We are all VERY VERY close and I don't think that is the norm. I am so proud of each one of them and I am even more proud of the women they have all become. These girls are such good people. There are so many wonderful traits about each of them and our friendship, but one of the things I love most about them is the way we rally around each other when one of us is in need.

I witnessed this first hand last year during the time we lost Isaiah and I am seeing it again during this time that we rally around Jenny and her family.

I love this quote and I think it sums up our friends so well.

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. ~Henri Nouwen

Today we will celebrate the life of Kanon William Laisle. We will be surrounded by friends, family and God.

And Jenny and I will marvel at our friendship, our oldest boys friendship here on Earth and our youngest boys friendship now in Heaven.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Lee Anne